After the last year being the first outing of the new age WRC cars, a second and more enticing chapter into the new regulations cars await f...
After the last year being the first outing of the new age WRC cars, a
second and more enticing chapter into the new regulations cars await for the
fresh season.
It was difficult for the manufacturers and private teams to make it to the 2012 season, as the new year was hit by weakening
world economic crisis. After a lot of hustle and shuffle, Ford confirmed its promise for the coming two
years in WRC, ie 2012 and 2013. Although Citroen
was sure they are here for a longer time, but certainly had plans to
keep unnecessary and excessive expenditures at bay. There was a lot of things
going on between Prodrive and BMW Mini with the Mini
WRC team, and it never looked too promising for the season. Hope
they keep the goodwill with the sports and the sportsmen/women. Amen!
At the end of 2011 season, a lots of
shifts in the team across almost of every team seemed a bit more realistic,
being it some miss-understanding within the team players or due to other issues
like economic crisis or teams pulling out.
Petter Solberg was the first among the teams to announce of
discomfort in running a team and called it a day for his beloved PSWRT, as he was aiming for a factory backed
team seat if he ever would like to stay in WRC. He was almost about to
leave the rallying stages and to hit the circuits, but it was Ford-WRC team who employed him as the no. 2
driver in their team, after Mikko Hirvonen decided to move to Citroen. His move would have been initiated
after Sebastien Ogier, the no.2 driver at Citroen
WRT was shown the door (most likely of what would have happened,
with constant friction in 2011 season
with the 8 times ace, Citroen's no.1 driver Loeb).
Ogier later announced that he got a good no.1 place in the upcoming Volkswagen World Rally Team in their Polo R WRC for the 2013
season onwards.
Dani Sordo was retained in his no.1 position in Mini WRC team, but for the no.2 driver Kris
Meeke in the 2011 season was a
bitter blow in his gut as he was put out.
The calendar for the Season 2012 is as follows,
| Country | Event/Rally Name | Date (From-To) | Winner | Status/Results |
 | Rallye Monte-Carlo | 17 – 22 Jan 12 | S. LOEB | Complete |
 | Rally Sweden | 09 – 12 Feb 12 | J. LATVALA | Complete |
 | Rally Guanajuato Mexico | 08 – 11 Mar 12 | S. LOEB | Complete |
 | Vodafone Rally de Portugal | 29 Mar - 01 Apr 12 | M. ØSTBERG | Complete |
 | Philips Rally Argentina | 27 – 29 Apr 12 | S. LOEB | Complete |
 | Acropolis Rally | 24 – 27 May 12 | S. LOEB | Complete |
 | Brother Rally New Zealand | 22 – 24 Jun 12 | S. LOEB | Complete |
 | Neste Oil Rally Finland | 02 – 04 Aug 12 | < Next Rally | |
 | ADAC Rallye Deutschland | 24 – 26 Aug 12 | ||
 | Wales Rally GB | 13 – 16 Sep 12 | ||
 | Rallye de France - Alsace | 04 – 07 Oct 12 | ||
 | Rally d'Italia Sardegna | 18 – 21 Oct 12 | ||
 | RallyRACC-Rally de Espana | 08 – 11 Nov 12 |
No comments